Premier League Predictions: Manchester City v Liverpool Preview

In this week’s preview for Manchester City v Liverpool read up on my prediction along with analysis for the match in week 17 of the Premier League. Included with each match preview are statistics and betting odds to help with your own predictions.

Manchester City come into Thursday as the hottest team in the Premier League with six matches unbeaten, only one of those as a draw. They also lead the league with goals, at 51, and goal difference, at +31.

The Citizens have scored at least three goals in five out of their last six matches. They will still be without Sergio Aguero, but their 4-2 win over Fulham over the weekend included goals from Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany, Jesus Navas, and James Milner. Allowing two goals, including a terrible own goal by Kompany, showed that they remain defensively vulnerable.

For Liverpool, they have really laid out their stake on the Premier League title by ending the weekend in first place with 36 points on goal difference. Their +23 goal difference is second best, behind City, as is their goals scored with 42.

Luis Suarez has been the difference maker this season, which has been quite obvious to everyone. Liverpool’s more quiet hero this season would have to be Lucas Leiva. His presence in midfield has been dominant and lead to Jordan Henderson’s ability to get forward while he can protect the Liverpool back line. He leads the EPL in tackles per game with 4.4 while also providing a solid passing base. He has a 91.3% pass success rate for his 888 passes, an average of 63.4 per game. This also comes in 14 appearances (13 starts) this season.

I’m predicting a very close match and probably one with plenty of goals, but one in which Manchester City come away as winners. Liverpool probably take an edge on offense with Luis Suarez, especially with City missing Aguero, but Kompany’s return to the back line should help, along with Fernandinho’s excellent form lately. The last three matches between these two clubs, in all competitions, has ended in a draw, which could be a more likely result, but I’m going big with this and predicting a high scoring Man City win. Manchester City has won all of their home Premier League matches this season.